Phantom's Magic
by Linzerj
Summary: Pariah Dark has been reawakened, and sets off to finish a war started long ago against fairies and other magical creatures. In order to defeat him, ghosts opposed to Pariah decide to team up with the fairies. However, this will only be possible if cousins Danny, Timmy, and Lynn can stand together - as soon as Danny confronts his past. Full summary inside. Some minor DxS, CxW
1. Prologue

A/N: After over two years of a hiatus, I've finally got the first few chapters of the redone "Phantom's Magic" finished! Updates will be sporadic, as usual, due to school and such, but this time I actually have a plan for how I want to progress with this story.

The story is set so that season 3 never occurred, meaning Danielle is still unstable, Vlad never totally lost his marbles and became mayor, and Danny has not yet gained his ice powers. Will he in this story? ...I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking so.

Summary: With the Ghost King being awoken once more, he sets out to win a war he started during his first tyrannical rule - the war against fairies and all other magical creatures. This time, he is determined to finish what he started and wipe out the last three major magical races: fairies, pixies, and anti-fairies. In order to stop his goal from being reached, the Ghostwriter conspires with the Master of Time to amass an army of their own, allied with the fae. The only way to successfully accomplish this goal, however, is for the half-ghost child Danny Fenton/Phantom and his cousins Timmy Turner and Lynn Smith to forge an alliance of their own - and for Danny to come to terms with his clouded past.

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom, Fairly Odd Parents, or any other recognizable characters/settings/et cetera. Butch Hartman owns Danny Phantom and Fairly Odd Parents. I only claim to own Lynn Smith, Ione Castello, and any other OCs mentioned in this story.

* * *

_**Phantom's Magic**_

_Prologue_

"_In a time unremembered by any living human today, magic ruled the world and superstitions dominated the common minds. The magic-folk, the fae, were of the West, and the spirits were of the East. They existed in harmony, to the delight of all – until the reign of Pariah Dark._

"_Humans found themselves caught in a war between ghosts and magical creatures as the King of Ghosts ordered every last fae to be slain and brought to him. He wanted to harvest their power at first, but finding he could not he decided to simply remove the problem. The souls of the unfortunate humans caught in the crossfire were often snatched before they could pass and were then forced to join the ghost army – for what the ghosts lacked in power they were determined to make up in ferocity and numbers. But the fae countered, and every magical creature banded together for the first time in millennia._

"_Alas, both sides paid heavily during the war. The number of pegasi and unicorns dwindled until they were forced to retreat in order to save their species. Leprechauns have not been seen since and are thought to be extinct, or else wisely hiding themselves from the outside. Mermaids and dragons had to pull away too, as at the time they were being hunted by not only ghosts but also by humans for their beautiful scales._

"_When the Ancient Ghosts finally managed to break free of his reign and overpower Pariah Dark, the fighting was brought to a miraculous end. Prince Aragon and Princess Dorathea, Frostbite, and Pandora were the ones who arranged a deal with the head fairy, Jorgen (though it is rumored that Clockwork also played some part in the deal): none of the fae would be attacked by ghosts again, so long as no fae trespassed in the Ghost Zone or on a ghosts' known territory without permission. There was no fault to be found with the deal: the bargain was accepted."_

Ghostwriter paused here, stretching. He had read the passage dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of times. He knew it was correct but the account was missing some important details.

It went on to explain how pixies went from tricksters to strict business-like creatures; how genies were slowly released back to their home world by sympathetic wishers until very, _very_ few remained on Earth; how anti-fairies claimed Friday the Thirteenth and Halloween as their nights of mischief, with Halloween being pleasantly shared with the Fright Knight himself. (This was the only time of the year when any type of fae worked harmoniously with a ghost; it was both beautiful and terrifying to think about.) But the fairies – it barely spoke of them again. The passage only went on to mention how the fairies continued to remain in Fairy World, unless assigned a godchild by Jorgen – something that had been a reality for fairies even before the Dark Wars. Ghostwriter had often pondered whether or not anything had changed in recent years…whether the fairies were still as benign as –

"Do you happen to have any books on fairy hunting?"

Ghostwriter yelped and toppled out of his chair. Grumbling, he looked up at Skulker, who was chuckling at the other ghost.

"Sorry," the hunter said, not sounding sorry at all. "But, seriously – have you anything on-?"

"No," Ghostwriter hissed as he stood up, baring his sharp teeth out of instinct. The metallic hunter had always given him the creeps. "I don't, Skulker. And anyway, don't you know of the rules regarding fairies?"

"Rules?"

Ghostwriter sighed. "Walker can explain better than I can – the law is bound to be in his book somewhere – but in short, during Pariah Dark's reign, there was a war between ghosts and fae. After the war's end we struck a deal with the fairies: we don't bother them, they don't bother us." The writer paused, studying Skulker from behind his glasses. "Skulker, if you go after any fairies, you could very well spark another war."

Skulker frowned and turned to leave, grumbling, "Rats… I'd best tell Plasmius about this then."

Ghostwriter snorted. "Plasmius? He ordered you to catch a fairy? Why?"

The hunter shrugged. "He said he'd heard about it – some crazy elementary school teacher was raving about it or something. The guy was from – California? Yes, Dimmsdale, California, that's where he was from."

Ghostwriter arched an eyebrow. "I'm not surprised, then. The Rainbow Bridge to Fairy World touches down in that area – at least, according to this book it does." He held up the book, _A History of Magical Creatures and Ghosts._ "This teacher probably caught a glimpse of one and became obsessed."

"Yes, well, Plasmius took interest and wanted to see what these fairies were all about. I'll inform him that he'd be jeopardizing the entire world if he continues his pursuit."

"You do that," Ghostwriter muttered, turning back to his Quantum Keyboard as he listened to Skulker fire up his jets and head off to the halfa's Wisconsin lair. "Meanwhile… I must wonder…"

The Quantum Keyboard could do anything – from making people do what he commanded when he wrote a story (that Christmas thing was still hilarious, especially in hindsight…except for when he was sent to jail) to searching for any information located in any text, database, or television archive.

_Fairy godparent assignments_ revealed a single link; the master list of all godparent assignments, courtesy of Fairy World's official records. As Ghostwriter clicked on it, he wondered if this was considered breaking the pact.

"_Well, not really,"_ he decided as he searched for more recent assignments. _"After all, I'm only interested in fairies assigned to kids in Amity Park; it's a ghost hot zone, after all, and if Phantom ever figures out how to claim the place it'll become a known ghost territory. There would have to be a deal set with Phantom to allow kids with fairies to remain…"_

And then he blinked as he found a particularly interesting entry.

_Assignment: Daniel "Danny" James Fenton, Amity Park, Illinois. Reason for assignment: Neglectful parents, sister unable to always watch him, in need of more friends. Assigned godparents: Cosmo Cosma and Wanda Cosma. Assignment beginning: September 17, 2007. Assignment end: July 29, 2010. Reason for end: grew up and no longer needed godparents. Left on good terms with godparents. Willingly allowed memory wipe of all fairy-related events. (Assignment also terminated due to parent's interest in ghosts, causing concern for the fairy godparents assigned.)_

_Notes: Both cousins Timothy "Timmy" Tiberius Turner (of Dimmsdale, California) and Lynn Opal Smith (of Livermore, Colorado) have fairy godparents currently. Turner's godparents are Cosmo Cosma, Wanda Cosma, and infant Poof Cosma; Smith's godparent is Ione Castello._

_Fenton is currently one of two natural human-ghost hybrids (halfas) in existence by the alias of Phantom, the other being Vladimir Masters/Plasmius. Has a clone who is also half-ghost, Danielle "Dani" Fenton/Phantom. Half-ghost status indicates that he is immune to normal fairy rules humans are subjected to and may be able to regain his memories of this time if he so wishes. More research on this is needed._

Ghostwriter stared at the passage, and then lightly chuckled. The halfa was involved with fae…what a coincidence.

Suddenly, there was a shout from outside the library. Ghostwriter peeked out of a window, green eyes widening at the sight before him.

It was not Plasmius, nor Skulker, nor any ghost he personally knew. But there _was_ a ghost there, a skeleton ghost from the days of Pariah Dark, smirking evilly as he held the Ring of Rage in one hand and a fairy trapped in a butterfly net in the other.

A coincidence indeed – one that might just save all the worlds...


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapter 1_

"Remember, Jazz, there's plenty of food in the fridge and money is on the counter!"

"Bye kids! Have fun!"

Lynn blinked as the Fenton RV sped away without any further warning. That had to have been the quickest arrival, drop-off, and subsequent departure _ever_. She cast a glance at her cousins who were also staring after the car in varying states of shock; Timmy Turner, who was younger than her by 3 years, seemed totally unfazed by the fact that his parents had just dropped him and ran. Jazz Fenton, meanwhile, looked appalled, and Danny was glancing around in disbelief.

"Um…alright then," Jazz, the oldest of them all, finally muttered. "I don't know why they're in such a rush; it's a month-long _family reunion."_

"What I don't get is the fact that we can't go," Danny remarked to his older sister. "I mean, we're technically family too."

Lynn scoffed. "My mom said it had something to do with the fact that it's being held in Vegas and they don't want to worry about us or some nonsense."

"Well, I guess we're making our own family reunion right here!" Timmy said, trying to be chipper. Jazz smiled at the attempt.

"Alright then, little cousin," she said, ruffling the brown hair that poked out of the pink baseball cap. "We'll help you two get your stuff inside, and then I'll see about cooking dinner."

"Didn't your mom say there's food in the fridge?" Lynn questioned.

"Oh, no," Danny said, eyes widening slightly. "You can never trust food in this house. Ever. Especially if they cook it. The number of times the food has come to life because of ectoplasmic contamination…"

"Sounds gross, please don't even finish that sentence," Lynn interrupted.

"What's up with that, anyway?" Timmy questioned as the teens began helping their cousins gather their luggage. "Like, are ghosts _really _real? Have you guys ever seen one?"

"Like, every day," Danny muttered, opening the door to allow for suitcases to be dragged in. "Danny Phantom, of course, always saving the day from the evil ghosts. The only three who appear more than once a week are Technus, Skulker, and the Box Ghost."

"Huh," Lynn muttered, picking up her terrarium. Inside, a violet-colored garter snake slithered about, hissing occasionally at the fishbowl that Timmy had brought along.

Jazz, seeing the snake, shuddered. "Ugh…I know it's your pet and all, but snakes sort of creep me out."

"She," Lynn corrected, setting the terrarium down. "Her name is Ione, and she's the sweetest thing. Garter snakes are actually pretty harmless, especially ones like her; they're really domestic, and they've actually been bred to have odd colorations like this."

"As long as she doesn't eat my fish," Timmy muttered, setting his fishbowl down on the coffee table. Lynn frowned.

"She won't. Her diet consists of dead mice, and I brought plenty, so there's nothing to worry about."

Her three cousins wore mild looks of disgust, but she ignored it. She was used to it by now. Gently, she picked up the garter snake, and smiled when she felt Ione wrap securely around her wrist. Closing the terrarium, she walked over to the others, stroking the snake's head lightly.

"Wanna pet her?"

"NO!" the others shouted in unison. Lynn pouted.

"Well, alright, then," she muttered, walking up the stairs and grabbing her suitcase with her free hand. "I'm going to check the room out, Jazz. I'll be down in ten."

"Alright!" Jazz shouted up the stairs, still mildly put off by the snake. Timmy quirked an eyebrow.

"Does she even know where she's going?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "She's got dibs on the guest bedroom. You're stuck with me, beaver-boy!"

"Hey!" Timmy cried indignantly as Danny swiped his pink ball cap and darted off, laughing. Jazz sighed, rolling her eyes.

"This is going to be a _long_ month."

* * *

Lynn glanced over her shoulder as she shut the door to the guest bedroom, then turned to the snake around her wrist. "Alright, Ione, coast is clear."

A light _poof_ of fairy dust condensed, and above her outstretched hand appeared Ione Castello in her true form. Violet hair fell haphazardly in front of lavender eyes, and over pointed ears with small hoop earrings. Her wings fluttered and she twirled her wand anxiously - a nervous tick she could never seem to break.

"I don't know, Lynn" Ione muttered, eyes darting across the room suspiciously. "I know there are no cameras recording this, but I can't help but to air on the side of caution. Especially in a ghost town like this..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lynn asked, though she figured the last sentence was not meant to be said out loud.

Ione proved her suspicions correct, eyes widening and grip on her wand tightening. "Ha, um, what are you talking about?"

"Ione..."

The fairy sighed, eyes darting to the door once more. "Fine, alright, Lynn. You're one of the oldest children with a fairy still, I suppose you deserve to know some of this..."

Lynn smiled at that. She was fourteen, and yet her fairy was still going to be with her for her freshman year of high school. It was a feat rarely accomplished, and Lynn was surprised they were letting Ione stay at all...she had grown up a long time ago, when she was first left on her own by her forgetful parents. (It must run in the family, she'd mused upon seeing her aunts and uncles.) She'd learned a lot on fairy history from Ione - not nearly all of it, but important little facts, and she was starting to wonder if she could find some way out of the memory-wipe part of finally losing Ione...

"So," Ione sighed, snapping Lynn out of her trance, "millennia ago, there was a ghost named Pariah Dark. He was King of the Ghost Zone - sort of like Fairy World, only for ghosts. Anyway, Pariah Dark initiated a war against all fae - that's the generic term for any magical creature. Mermaids, dragons, pegasi, and unicorns almost went extinct - and leprechauns supposedly did go extinct, for no one has seen one since the end of the war. There are few, if any, genies still around, for those freed have secluded themselves from others. The only major fae races left are fairies, pixies, and anti-fairies."

Lynn quirked an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with-?"

"I was getting to that," Ione hissed, annoyance evident in her expression. "When Pariah was finally defeated, the ghosts and fae struck a deal - we don't bother them, they don't bother us, no one gets hurt." Ione began fidgeting, looking uncomfortable. "Amity Park isn't an officially claimed ghost territory, but it's rumored that it belongs to one called Phantom, and if he figures out how to formally claim it while we're here, I'll either have to leave or seek him out and ask permission to stay with you until we leave."

"Or else...?"

Ione sighed. "Or else I'll be either imprisoned for life, or killed."

Lynn blanched. "Well crap."

* * *

Pariah Dark stretched, smirking as he felt power surge through his being as his skeleton warrior placed the Crown of Fire upon his head. The Fright Knight, who stood beside him, fidgeted.

"Sire? What…what need have we of the fae?"

Pariah resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "The fae is key to starting another war."

"Which…we want?"

"Of course!" Pariah growled, taking internal satisfaction at the sight of the Fright Knight flinching. "Only this time, I will win the war, and conquer all beings; human, ghost, and fae!"

"Of course, master," Fright Knight mumbled, bowing his head respectfully. "When do we begin our siege?"

"Once the fae tells me everything that's happened-"

"I'll never tell you anything!" the fairy hissed, baring his teeth instinctively. He redoubled his efforts to claw his way out of the butterfly net as Pariah loomed over him, leaning down into his face.

"Of course you will," Pariah said, confidence radiating off of him. The fairy gulped at the malicious gleam in the Ghost King's eyes.

"And then you shall be the first of your race to perish."

* * *

Slowly, quietly, Ghostwriter backed out of the door, before turning and fleeing as fast as possible. With the Ghost King reawakened and threatening war, no one would be safe.

No one...unless an impossible alliance was formed.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: I figured a quick note on ages was in order: Danny, Sam, and Tucker are 15, Jazz is 17, Lynn is 14, and Timmy is 11.

Also I feel that Timmy is a lot smarter than we make him out to be. This is explored in this chapter.

And this is actually a really fast update for me. Don't expect such quick updating in the future. (Sorry.)

* * *

_Chapter 2_

There were not a lot of places for privacy in the Fenton household, Timmy discovered. Sure, he could use the bathrooms or even sneak into Lynn's guest room, but the Fenton siblings weren't the problem; the ghosts were.

The Ecto-Exodus alarm had sounded around midnight the day he and his cousin had arrived, and ghosts were constantly streaming through ever since. The Box Ghost had been comedic with his "Power over everything cardboard and square - and the bubble wrap of DEATH!", but the others - like Skulker, the hunter, or Desiree, the wishing ghost - could prove a problem. Timmy was apprehensive about wishing with her around - when she first appeared, she'd asked if he wanted to wish for anything. Danny and Jazz, thankfully, had threatened her (and the other ghosts) with an array of (cool-looking) ectoplasm-based weapons, but it had struck a sore spot in Timmy.

It was like Norm the Genie all over again, only Desiree wasn't bound to one person; she granted every wish she heard.

That was definitely going to be a problem if he needed to make any wishes while here.

(Oh, who was he kidding; he'd definitely be making wishes at some point or another.)

With this in mind, he whispered a quick wish - a paper cup. There was no ominous pink smoke, like when the wishing ghost had first appeared, and after a moment a light _poof_ sounded, and a cloud of smoke appeared only to quickly disperse into...a paper cup.

Timmy arched a questioning eyebrow at the pink, green, and purple books he had set down next to him. The pink one sighed. "Well, sport," she said as another _poof_ echoed in the library bathroom, "you said _I wish_ and since the wishing ghost didn't grant it, we were obligated to."

"I know, I know," Timmy chuckled as the green and purple books were shrouded with smoke as well. "So what's the deal with that, anyway? Not all ghosts are like that, right?"

The pink book-turned fairy - Wanda - rolled her eyes. "No, sport, of course not."

"But they _are_ all creepy as heck," Cosmo stated, fluttering next to his wife. "They can all fly, and they all glow, and they all can pass through stuff and go invisible."

"Exactly, Cosmo," Wanda agreed, nodding as Poof floated next to Timmy, absorbing the information like his godbrother. "Then each ghost gets...specialized. Like Desiree grants wishes, the Box Ghost controls boxes, Skulker has a specialized hunting suit...and so on."

Timmy nodded slowly. "Alright, makes sense, I guess," he muttered. "But so why do you think they're all suddenly coming out of that portal?"

Wanda shrugged. "I'm...not sure. But...I don't like it. It'll be dangerous for us."

"Dangerous?" Timmy asked, eyebrow arching again. "How so?"

Wanda opened her mouth to explain, but Cosmo cut in before she could speak. "See, Timmy, a long long long time ago - before Wanda and I were born, in fact - there was a big war between all the magical creatures and all the ghosts. No one ever won but a truce was called and so we don't trespass on ghost's homes and we don't fight with them, and they don't bother us or try to kill us, and everybody's happy!"

"Er...that's exactly right, Cosmo," Wanda said, blinking incredulously. Turning to Timmy, she explained further: "It's also why fairies are rarely assigned to Amity Park, especially nowadays."

"Is...is this some ghost's home, then?" Timmy asked, eyes going wide with a mix of wonder and fear. "Are you guys gonna get in trouble?"

"No, sweetie, no," Wanda rushed, shaking her head frantically. Cosmo had floated over to Poof and was holding the baby close, for Poof had started to tremble with the beginnings of terror. "The town is not officially claimed by a ghost. But...it's where the ghosts congregate, because it's where the Fentons have their portal, as you've seen. And Phantom is the resident ghost - he's just yet to claim this territory officially."

Timmy nodded, then slowly, his buck-toothed frown turned into a smile. "But, hey, if we see him after a ghost battle, maybe we could talk to him! Be like, 'Hi Phantom, so this is like your territory right, and according to Da Rules we need to ask you to be here so-'"

"It's not according to Da Rules."

Timmy stopped short, staring at his godparents. "What?"

"It's not _Da_ Rules that say that, Timmy," Wanda repeated. She paused. "Well, it's in there, but it's more for godparents only to know since most godkids don't realize ghosts exist and none would ever really wish to meet one and anyway, no - it's according to the Treaty of Clockwork."

"The...Treaty of Clockwork?"

Wanda nodded. "It's the truce, basically. At the end of the war, there were four ghosts we all know worked with Jorgen to create the peace accords: Prince Aragon, Princess Dorathea, Pandora, and Frostbite. The ghost Clockwork was always a major player, but no one for sure knows how much of a role he played...still, the truce treaty is named after him as a sign of respect, since he's always a neutral figure in any major war."

Timmy frowned, nodding slowly. "Okay, but why is he so important?"

"He's the Ghost of Time."

"Trust me, you don't want to mess with him," Cosmo cut in suddenly. "I mean, I've never met him of course, but he knows everything! Past, present, future - he knows it all, and he's just so powerful...that's why, whenever possible, he stays neutral."

"Okay, guys, I get it," Timmy said, feeling more than a little nervous about this town now. It was going to be one heck of a month...

"Can I ask you guys something, though?"

Wanda blinked and Cosmo tilted his head curiously. "Sure, sport. Ask away."

Timmy fidgeted now. "Okay, well, you know my cousin Lynn, her snake? It was purple, but I've seen garter snakes before and the weirdest colors they come in are orange creamsicle, candy cane, and a few others but they're all brown, black, white, or green colored. There are no purple garter snakes. So I was thinking - is her snake really her fairy godparent or something?"

Wanda fidgeted, looking to her husband and son, before nodding. "Yeah, Timmy. But, don't confront her about it yet! Lynn first needs to figure out that you've got fairies-"

"Then we'll tell Ione about it!" Cosmo finished. Timmy, at this, tilted his head.

"Wait, so you guys _were_ talking to that snake when it was hissing at you!" The fairies nodded their head, sheepish, but Timmy still beamed his buck-toothed smile. "Cool! That's so cool..."

Timmy turned to the bathroom door, ready to leave, and on cue his fairies waved their wands and transformed into books, secure in Timmy's hands. He rested his hand on the doorknob, then stopped, causing concern to rise in his godparents.

"Timmy?"

"Guys, last night, when the portal sounded, I saw you watching Danny with these...weird expressions. What's up with that?"

Wanda bit her lip, glad Poof was the top book so that Timmy couldn't see it. "Well...we'll, we'll tell you later, sweetie. I promise. Just...not right now, okay? Not right now..."

* * *

"Their pets give off a weird vibe."

"You think they're ghosts?"

"No...my ghost sense didn't go off. Well, until the Ecto-Exodus alarm, anyway."

"Hmm...what kind of 'weird vibes' are you getting from them?"

Danny arched an eyebrow at his sister. "Please don't go all psycho-analyst on me."

Jazz rolled her eyes. "Come on, Danny, just spill. Please?"

The raven-haired teen sighed. "Fine, whatever. Well...I mean, the snake wasn't too familiar or anything, and the smaller fish didn't feel that familiar either, but the other two...I feel like I've seen them somewhere before. Like, their auras...they were really familiar, you know?"

His sister shook her head. "Not really, Danny... But, what do you mean by 'auras' anyway?"

Danny shrugged. "I don't know...not ghost auras, obviously... It's just really, really weird, Jazz. But I don't want to say anything to them - I don't want them freaking out over some vibes I got from their pets."

The red-head nodded slowly. "Alright, Danny," she said, rising from their table at the Nasty Burger. "I'm gonna go and pick up Timmy from the library. I'm pretty sure Lynn is still around somewhere - she's got her snake with her, which is odd, but if you see her just tell her to be back at the house by five. And help her home if she needs it, got it?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Of course, sister dear."

Jazz shook her head in amusement as she left the fast-food joint, right as Tucker and Sam entered through the doors. The duo beelined to their usual table, and sat down with Danny, completing the trio. "Hey, dude, what's up?"

"What were you and Jazz talking about?" Sam added.

"Nothing important, guys," Danny said. "Just my two cousins who are staying for the month while all our parents are out of town. Jazz just left to get Timmy - he's the youngest of us, just turned 11. Lynn - she's a year younger than us - she's walking around town."

"Actually she's right next to you."

Danny yelped, and Tucker and Sam were thankful neither had sat with him because he ended up sprawled half-way off the booth. The brunette girl giggled, grey eyes sparkling with amusement. "Hey, cousin. Mind if I join you guys?"

"Uh, er, sure," Danny said, righting himself as Lynn slid into the booth. She waved with her left hand and smiled at Tucker and Sam, who questioningly waved back.

"Lynn, these are my friends, Tucker and Sam. Guys, this is my cousin Lynn."

"Nice to meet you guys," Lynn chirped, raising her right hand this time. Tucker yelped upon seeing the snake wrapped around it; Sam, meanwhile, cooed softly.

"Aww, what a cute little garter snake!" The goth suddenly stopped, frowning. "You didn't dye his skin, did you?"

"Her, and no, of course not!" Lynn replied, shaking her head. "This is Ione, and she's a very rare coloration of garter snakes. I went through a _lot_ of trouble to get her. The breeder is very meticulous about creating new color variations for garter snakes."

Sam nodded. "Alright, that's cool."

"Cool?" Tucker asked indignantly. "Sam, it's a snake. In a restaurant! Is that even allowed?"

"Relax, I was just gonna grab something and go, no need to make a fuss," Lynn said, rising from her seat. "Nice meeting you, Sam, Tucker. See you later, Danny!"

Danny waved, before remembering something and shouting after the brunette, "Be home by five or Jazz'll have my head!" He received a thumbs up as his cousin joined the relatively short line for food, and Danny relaxed slightly. Until his ghost sense went off.

"Urg, I hate this so much," he muttered, watching Lynn take a bag and exit the fast food restaurant. "At least my cousin isn't here to see this, though..."

"Just go already, man!" Tucker cried, rising in unison with Sam. Danny nodded and began to rise himself before he heard the ghost who was causing the ruckus.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST! BEWARE!"

"OH COME ON!"


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: Alright so a guest review quite rudely demanded whether or not I'm going to finish this story. My answer, Guest, is YES but it takes TIME because I happen to have a life outside of writing fanfiction. I go to school, I work, I have essays to write and tests to take and lab reports to do, and I also have a few other stories I'm writing simultaneously. Sorry I can't update every single day, but I can't work around what you want - you need to just be patient until I can find time to finish writing these chapters and upload them.

Also, continuity wise - alright, originally it was set at the direct end of season 3, because I was going to try and include Danielle, but I realized after rewatching the episode that by this point Vlad has become quite...emotionally and mentally unstable. So for the story to work "Kindred Spirits" has not yet happened, nor have any of the episodes after it (which is just "Double Cross my Heart", "Reality Trip", and all of season 3). Just as a heads up for future chapters.

Okay, rant over. Here's the next chapter.

* * *

_Chapter 3_

Ghosts were everywhere in Amity Park, and the citizens actually began to find themselves missing Jack and Maddie Fenton's ghost hunting attempts. Sure, the couple wasn't that great, but Phantom had his hands full and the couple could catch lower level ghosts like the Ecto-Pusses and the Box Ghost so that the ghostly hero had more time to deal with the more frightening (and dangerous) ghosts like Skulker. And oh, sure, some of the ghosts weren't malevolent at all; Sydney Poindexter, the ghost of a former Casper High student, was actually found chatting with a group of nerds like it was an everyday thing (and it didn't count that he used his limited powers to give Dash a wedgie - the bully had deserved it, after all), Cujo the ghost puppy was normally quite friendly (unless, of course, angered, which thankfully was not often), Wulf stuck to the shadows of the forest, Johnny 13 and Kitty motorbiked through town like they owned the place, and Dorathea was normally found roaming the streets and marvelling at modern wonders (normally meaning after her initial day or two in the human world, which were spent in her more terrifying but still benevolent dragon form).

Danny and Jazz, along with Tucker and Sam, took it upon themselves to catch as many of the ghosts as possible. There would be no returning them to the Zone because they were obviously fleeing from something, and the idea made Danny's heart race. The only two ghosts he knew of that could strike such fear into so many ghosts were King Pariah Dark... And his own evil future self. He really wasn't looking forward to facing either one. In the dark hours of the morning, when he was positive his cousins were still asleep, Danny and his team set up a temporary containment cell in the lab. It couldn't hold many ghosts, granted, but it was better than leaving them crammed into the Fenton Thermoses. As Phantom, he had also managed to set up a temporary truce with Valerie, known to the town as the Red Huntress; Axion Labs was also given a temporary containment cell (courtesy of the Fentons, of course), and she was to drop off any ghosts she captured there.

Danny was hesitant about approaching Vlad for any help whatsoever, until the billionaire wound up at his house just three days after the Ecto-Exodus alarm had first sounded, with Skulker (surprise, surprise) at his side. The older halfa claimed he would try and capture some of the rouge spirits as well, with the help of Skulker, and while Danny didn't trust the man with a banana, Vlad had proven to be a decent ally in the previous attack of Pariah Dark (even if he was a manipulative cheesehead). Danny gave him a list of the benevolent ghosts and told him to leave them be, for now; most of them had truces with Phantom anyway, and they were upholding those truces as well as possible, given the circumstances.

All that left, then, was the problem of his two cousins. Sure, they (reluctantly) agreed to stay in the house after dark, and didn't go anywhere without Danny or Jazz, but the idea of the two younger kids being harmed in this chaos scared him.

So did the fish and that snake, come to think of it. They had a key role to play in this, his gut told him, but he couldn't quite figure out what that meant.

* * *

Lynn sighed, slipping under her covers on the fourth night of the ghost invasion. She turned to Ione, who had momentarily shifted into her normal form and was hovering just to the right of her bed. "Ione, is that Desiree around?"

The purple haired fairy cast a quick glance at her wand, which glowed briefly before going out. "No, she's not in the area. Why - what do you want to wish for?"

"I wish I could figure out a way to help," Lynn mumbled, burying her face in the pillows. "Because, Ione, I want to help, I really do. I should be doing something. But I can't, not if it involves you, because then Danny or Jazz will find out."

"You're not concerned about Timmy?"

Lynn chuckled dryly. "Please, Ione. I figured out Timmy's fish were fairies the moment I saw the floating crowns."

Ione huffed. "Well, no need to be rude about it," she teased lightly. "At the very least, Timmy's figured out that you have a fairy, too - now one of you just needs to confront the other about it."

"Perfect, I'll do that in the morning," Lynn said through a yawn. "But, hey, you changed the subject. Ione, is there any way for me to help with this?"

The fairy sighed, wings fluttering in slight dismay. "I'm sorry, hun. I don't think there's anything my power can do, not at the moment. We can ask Timmy and his godparents tomorrow. Now, get some sleep. These next few days are going to be taxing on all of us."

Lynn opened her mouth to say something about that remark, but Ione had anticipated this - or perhaps she, too, was just extremely tired - either way, the fairy had poofed back into her snake form and curled up into a tight coil under the heat lamp in the far corner of the cage.

"Goodnight, Ione. Sweet dreams."

* * *

"Ghost Writer, good to see you."

"I wish it was under more favorable circumstances, but it's good to see you as well, Clockwork."

"And now we're all here," the warrior ghost Pandora noted dryly, stepping forward. "So, tell us why you called us, Writer."

"We are well aware that Pariah Dark is amassing his army now that he has - somehow, impossibly - awoken from his slumber," Nocturne, the ghost of Dreams, added.

"But it's worse than that. He'd captured a fairy somehow. I saw it. And I wanted to help, but what could I have done, especially without my Quantum Keyboard?"

The small group of assembled ghosts murmured amongst themselves at his comment; it was Clockwork, slamming the butt of his staff on the ground of his tower, that quieted them.

"Be silent, if you would be so kind," the ghost of Time growled. "None of us have gotten along very well in the past, we all know this. And more to the point, we especially don't get along well with other ghosts, and we are even more divided when it comes to Phantom, despite the fact that only Ghost Writer and myself have met him in person. However, he plays a key role in all of this. I've seen it. Past, present, future; I can see it all, the delicate strings of the timeline interwoven in an impossible web that can change with the slightest wind, or fall apart at a touch. If we want to survive this, we need to amass an army of our own, and we need Phantom's help to do it."

"Why is he so important?" Vortex snarled. Beside him, Undergrowth nodded.

"He doesn't seem to be all that significant," Pandora noted, "though of course, my Box doesn't seem all that significant either until you hear of the legends behind its power."

Clockwork's eyes flashed crimson, and the others, Ghost Writer included, shrunk back in fear of the Time Master. "Danny Phantom is one of the most crucial figures to the Time Stream to date. You might recall how the Observants, back before the time of Pariah, predicted that both of the half-ghosts would become instrumental - but the child with snow white hair and toxic green eyes would be the balancing point. If it wasn't for Phantom, we could be living in an even more devastating future at the moment."

As if to prove his point, the Fenton Thermos on the mantle in the back of the room rattled, a few more dents becoming prominent. The six assembled ghosts shuddered; they knew of what was contained in the device, and frankly were glad for it.

"And atop of all of that, Phantom is a former godchild."

The room, if possible, became even more silent than before.

Clockwork hid a grin, although he was sure his amusement could be seen in his red eyes. "In the previous war, the ghosts that were opposed to Pariah worked in secret, never interacting with the fae on the other side of the battlefield. But this time, we have a link to them, and with an even larger number of ghosts opposed to him now, a joint effort is frankly the most sensible option."

"Even if that wasn't insane," Pandora burst, "Phantom's mind would have been wiped of his time with his godparent or godparents."

"That's true," Ghost Writer murmured, bringing the attention quickly to him. "But I was looking around, and...and his two cousins, Timothy Turner and Lynn Smith, both have godparents of their own. In fact, Timothy's current godparents were the former godparents of Phantom."

"Time can be funny like that," Clockwork hummed under his breath. "Phantom is one of the biggest loopholes in history. I've checked. He can do this; he _will_ do this. Now it is simply a matter of us making the larger arrangements..."


End file.
